Germany posts economy growth in 2012January 15, 2013 - 18:31 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - Germany's economy grew by 0.7% in 2012 - but it shrank in the fourth quarter, government figures have shown, according to Belfast Telegraph. For 2012, the country's economy grew at a faster pace than the rest of the group of 17 European Union countries that use the euro, which has been hit by a debt crisis. But the numbers were down on the previous year, when Germany's economy grew 3%. No fourth quarter figure was given for gross domestic product, but the full-year total underscored what economists have been suspecting for some time - that the country turned in negative growth in the final quarter. Growth was 0.8% in the first quarter, 0.3% in the second and 0.2% in the third. Analyst Carsten Brzeski at ING said the numbers showed the German economy shrank around 0.3-0.4% in the fourth quarter. The official fourth quarter number will be announced next month. Exports to the United States and China have helped keep Germany going even as demand sags in crisis hit-countries such as Spain, Portugal and Greece. Meanwhile, Germany's finance ministry said the country's new borrowing in 2012 was lower than expected thanks to a stable economy and low unemployment. It said the government borrowed 22.5 billion euro last year, about 5.6 billion euro less than forecast in the revised November budget. Top stories Yerevan has dismissed Turkey’s demand to shut down the Armenian nuclear power plant as “inappropriate”. Armenia will loan 2.9 billion drams to Nagorno Karabakh (Artsakh), according to a draft government decision. The Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources of Azerbaijan has “strongly condemned” Armenia’s decision. Kerobyan has said that for the first time in the history of Armenia, the volume of foreign direct investments amounted to about $1 billion. Partner news | Macron honors Charles Aznavour on 100th anniversary French President Emmanuel Macron has paid tribute to the memory of French-Armenian crooner Charles Aznavour. Erdogan’s approval rating falls below 40 percent: survey A total of 53.4 percent of respondents said they disapprove of the performance of Erdoğan. Blinken says U.S. reviewing a number of aid requests from Armenia He said the U.S. is reviewing the requests to determine what more it can do to increase its assistance to Armenia. Armenia PM meets Iran’s Supreme Leader in Tehran Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan had a meeting with Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Seyyed Ali Khamenei |